Irsay says Colts need to be physical to win a championship

Posted by Michael David Smith on September 25, 2013, 9:55 PM EST

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Colts owner Jim Irsay knows the importance of a franchise quarterback, and he knows he was fortunate to follow Peyton Manning with Andrew Luck. But Irsay believes it takes more than a good passing game to win a title.

Irsay says the way the Colts played on Sunday against the 49ers — with physical defense and a tough running game — is the way he believes the Colts need to play to win another Super Bowl.

“We know we have the rare talent with Andrew,” Irsay told the Indianapolis Star. ‘[We had] just some incredible dynasty years; no one in the history of the National Football League won more than games [in a decade] than we did from 2000 to 2009. But, at the same time, when it comes to world championships, we’re trying to make a little adjustment in terms of building this thing with a physical team on defense and a running game that can really be depended on.”

It may be asking too much of Luck to expect him to become as good as Peyton Manning. But the Colts may be getting the pieces in place around Luck to be a tougher team, and a better team, than they had in the Manning years.

Jim Irsay: We won more regular season games than anyone in the 2000s! All it took was the best QB to ever play the sport of football in the past 75 years. We had so much adversity having the best QB in history!